Their six-monthly update on the perilous state of finances showed how many people missed out on cruises they had hoped for and paid for, drawing a string of extremely grim Google reviews of the business.
Based on the company’s latest accounts, New Zealand pre-booked trips total $1.5m while Australian pre-brooked trips total $4.6m, Jackson and Burrett said.
The company was only incorporated in October 2018 - just over a year before the pandemic broke out and people stopped travelling.
A new cruise ship which was 53m long and carried 32 passengers was delivered in October 2021.
“From January 2022, Island Escape Cruises recommenced trading, In addition to Fiordland, some cruises were offered to Kimberley, Western Australia,” the receivers noted.
But the end was dramatic.
“Attempts to recapitalise the business were unsuccessful and Island Escape Cruises began cancelling cruises from July 2022. The company’s key personnel - four employees and a contractor - resigned around July 2022,” Jackson and Burrett wrote.
“At that time the ship manager... served the company with a statutory demand for US$471,452. The vessel was located in Broome, Western Australia.
“On August 19, 2022, the vessel was arrested by an admiralty marshal appointed by the Federal Court of Australia.”
One of the directors, Christina Riisnes, resigned before the receivership.
She is the only locally domiciled director in this country and the Companies Office Register has not accepted her resignation. That is because all New Zealand companies must have at least one director who lives in New Zealand.
There are no other local directors, the receivers said.
The company’s balance sheet records $949,027 owed to trade creditors.
The receivers forwarded Australian customer information to the liquidators of the subsidiary across the Tasman.
Inland Revenue is also claiming money from the business in this country, the receivers saying in their first report $41,000 was due.
Last September, The Australian reported how passengers who paid tens of thousands of dollars for a luxury cruise across Western Australia’s Kimberley appear likely to be left out of pocket after the cruise operator collapsed.
New Zealand-based Island Escape Cruises NZ reportedly had its namesake vessel impounded in Broome and went into receivership, not long after it arrived in WA with a plan to spend months running cruises across the Kimberley.
Western Australia’s remote northern coast had become a popular destination for cruise travellers during the pandemic, although operators have faced challenges in securing staff and navigating Covid cases and rule changes, The Australian reported.
Eight months ago, Kelly Robinson wrote a Google review saying: “Do not book this boat. They have gone into receivership. This cruise was a Fawlty Towers from start to end. You could not eat the food. The ship itself is lovely.”
The Herald reported in 2018 how the high-end boutique ocean cruising business which comes complete with new 44-metre luxury yacht was in the market for sale.
Island Escape Cruises had operated in New Zealand waters and across the South Pacific, building up loyal international patronage over the past 12 years, that story said.
The business specialised in delivering intimate cruises to a niche clientele seeking highly personalised sailing experiences.
The company’s previous twin-hull catamaran, Island Passage, was retired in 2016, while a replacement vessel called Seasons was being built.
Now, with a firm delivery date for the new craft set, both company and vessel are for sale, with an asking price of $16 million plus GST.
Both cruise business and assets are to be sold as a going concern by Bayleys’ tourism and business division.
Salespeople Paul Dixon and John Greenwood said back then that, having both both new liner and well-proven selection of voyages, the high-end business seems truly on the threshold of a new era.
On board the new yacht, the self-contained suites range in size from 13-15sq m, all with their own stereo systems, television sets and individual access on to the decks.
At the time, revenue projections based on two full years of trading forecast turnover of $7m for the 2019/2020 cruise season beginning in August.
Calibre in Auckland said it had received “extensive correspondence” from people who had booked cruises.
But it’s unlikely those customers will get a cent.
“The company does not currently have any assets that will be available to repay customer deposits,” they concluded.
